All of the top 10 airports have significant share of domestic traffic, with the only two outside the U.S. coming in China. Dubai led a separate list of top 10 airports based on international passengers.
Almost all airports across the board saw major upticks in passengers in a year of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that drastically affected business in 2020, with an increase of 25% from 2020 but still a 50% decline from a booming 2019 pre-pandemic. Among the 10 airports listed, passenger traffic jumped up 51% from 2020 and dropped 29% from 2019 results.
Last year, Atlanta slipped to No. 2 with Guangzhou seizing the top spot during the pandemic year. But this year the airport returned to the top, outpacing fellow U.S. airport in Dallas-Fort Worth.
“These numbers speak to the resiliency and spirit of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement. “We thank our Airport employees and passengers who continued to stand with us as we worked through the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19.”
The biggest improvement, year-to-year, was the Orlando International Airport, which vaulted from 27th place in 2020 to seventh in 2021. That’s based on an 86.7% increase in passengers.
The world rankings, compiled every year, are based on global data that the ACI compiles as a trade association of all the airports. The up-to-date data includes namely passenger traffic as well as cargo volumes and aircraft movements.
The full list of the top 10 is below:
- Atlanta (ATL)
- Dallas Fort Worth (DFW)
- Denver (DEN)
- Chicago (ORD)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Charlotte, N.C. (CLT)
- Orlando (MCO)
- Guangzhou, China (CAN)
- Chengdu, China (CTU)
- Las Vegas (LAS)
